Shocked Smart
by B. Jeepers
Summary: What will happen when Jack gets an electric shock? A six-chapter story.
1. Chapter 1

SHOCKED SMART

**SHOCKED SMART**

CH. 1

Jack emerged from his bathroom, dressed, but still yawning and scratching himself randomly. He wandered sleepily to his refrigerator and opened the door.

"Drat – out of OJ," he lamented to himself. "Well, there's always Will's fridge."

Jack ambled across the hall to the always unlocked door of Apartment 9C, entered and made his way to his friend's refrigerator. Opening it, he made a disappointing discovery – Will didn't have any juice either!

"Is there an orange juice shortage this week?" he cried out to no one in particular. Will was still dressing when he heard Jack's grumbling and walked into the dining area still knotting his tie.

"Gosh, sorry Jack. Grace must've drunk it all. She had to leave early to have time to meet a new client, but I'll get some more today," the attorney offered.

"But I'm here now," Jack whined.

"Can't help ya there, bud. I just don't have any," Will reiterated exasperatedly, returning to his room to finish dressing leaving a pouting Jack in his wake.

Jack's eyes wandered around Will's apartment and finally rested on a large bowl of oranges on the table. Filled with sudden inspiration, Jack grabbed the bowl and headed back to the kitchen intending to use Will's juicer to make some fresh juice. Looking around, he didn't see it in its usual place.

"WILL! Where's your juicer?"" he yelled as he began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. He quickly located the errant appliance and placed it on the counter

"Don't use the juicer, Jack. It's broken," Will said as he re-emerged, slipping on his jacket.

"Huh?" Jack queried absently as he started to plug in the device.

"NO, JACK! NO!" Will shouted, but it was too late. As the plug made contact with the electrical outlet, a loud crackle resounded through the flat. Jack's whole body shuddered and his head snapped back as the electrical surge enveloped his body. Will lunged into the kitchen, grabbed an oven mitt, and yanked the plug from the outlet. Jack collapsed on the floor unconscious.

"Jack! Jack, buddy. Are you all right?" Will asked desperately as he knelt by his friend and felt for a pulse. It was there but weak and irregular. Will quickly flipped out his cell phone and dialed 911.


	2. Chapter 2

CH

CH. 2

Grace and Karen burst into the hospital waiting room with concern apparent on their faces. Will had phoned them at Grace's studio with the news as soon as Jack was taken into the ER. They saw Will sitting with his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. They hurried over and sat beside their friend. Grace broke the silence.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm sooo sorry," she said softly as she put one arm comfortingly over Will's shoulders. "Is Jack all right? Have you heard anything?"

Will exhaled heavily and looked up at his roommate shaking his head in the negative – distress and anguish were written all over his features.

"Why? Why, Grace?" he cryptically questioned.

Grace just sat beside him quietly. She knew what was coming. "Why didn't I just throw that old thing out when I knew it was defective? Now Jack's here and it's all my fault!" Will groaned. Grace continued to be physically supportive and let Will browbeat himself. She knew it was his way of working it out.

Not wanting to give away her own emotional apprehension over her dearest friend, Karen had remained silent. She just smiled half-heartedly at Will, then quietly unzipped her purse and produced a shot glass and a small bottle of spirits. She poured a dram and held it out to Will. This was the only way she could think of to be of any help in the situation.

"Thanks, Karen, but it's a little early in the day for me," the attorney said, politely refusing the alcohol.

Not to let it be wasted, Karen threw back her head and downed the drink in one quick gulp. Will almost smiled. Karen would always be Karen. They sat in tense silence for a few more minutes.

Finally a doctor approached them and introduced himself.

"Hello. I'm Dr. McManus. I understand that you're here for Mr. McFarland?"

They all nodded and looked at the doctor expectantly.

"Well, I'm happy to report that your friend is in stable condition. He responded to the medication to regulate his heart. However due to his lengthy state of unconsciousness and because of the nature of his accident, we decided to do an EEG on him."

Everyone just stared, not understanding.

"An electroencephalogram…" the doctor continued.

Blank looks still ensued.

Um…let's see. How can I explain this? It's a measurement of brain activity. Anyway, everything was normal except that he has markedly increased _theta_ waves, which is very unusual. I really don't know at this time how it will affect him, if at all. At this point, he's still unconscious. Hopefully he will come out of it soon and we can do further evaluations.

Just then, a nurse came hurrying towards the group.

"Doctor, you asked to be notified as soon as Mr. McFarland regained consciousness."

The doctor immediately strode down the hallway to the ICU with three concerned people following him closely. They entered a darkened room. Dr. McManus approached the bed as Will, Karen and Grace also positioned themselves around it, looking expectantly from the physician to their friend and back.

"Mr. McFarland…Mr. McFarland," the doctor said softly.

Jack's eyes slowly opened. He stared uncomprehendingly for a few moments, then groaned and raised his hands to his head like a person with a bad headache, massaging his temples.

"How do you feel, Mr. McFarland?" the doctor asked.

"Uh…okay, I guess…except for this excruciating cephalgia," Jack replied.

"Huh? What did he say?" Will asked.

"Well," the doctor chuckled, "He just told me he has a painful headache."

"Why didn't he just say that, then?" Will continued.

The doctor just shrugged.

"Will! Karen! Grace!" Jack exclaimed, first noticing his friends by his bedside. "What happened?"

"You got a bad electric shock, but it looks like you're going to be just fine," Will said smiling at his friend.

Jack returned the smile, then asked, "When can I be discharged?"

"We'll just keep you overnight for observation. If there are no further complications, you may go home tomorrow," Dr. McManus said.

Everyone was smiling now.


	3. Chapter 3

CH

CH. 3

A few evenings later, Will was puttering in his kitchen while Jack watched the TV. Suddenly Jack yelled, "No full moon! No full moon!"

Will looked over at his friend, puzzled. Jack clicked off the TV, sighing exasperatedly.

"What was that all about?" Will inquired.

"Oh, nothing." Jack responded rolling his eyes. "People are just so ignorant. They didn't even know on that quiz show what was unusual about February 1865!"

"There wasn't a full moon in that month?" Will incredulously asked.

"DUH, yeah!" Jack sarcastically replied, like EVERYONE should know that obscure fact.

Just than Grace entered, greeting the two men. Jack just made a half-hearted wave at her still grumbling over humanity's stupidity. Will gave her a peck on the cheek.

"How's he doing?" Grace whispered to Will when they were in the kitchen. Will and Grace had decided to keep an eye on Jack for a few days to make sure he had no recurring after-effects of his shocking experience.

"Grace, something definitely has changed about him. He's using words with three and more syllables in them. Heck, he using words I don't know the meaning of – and I'm an attorney!" Will whispered emphatically back.

They both stared at their friend who by now had turned the TV back on and was muttering, "Symbiosis …symbiosis." They stared at each other.

Later that evening, Will was doing some legal paperwork at the table. Grace had gone out on a date. Will sighed in frustration as he read and re-read a document. Jack noticed the lawyer's distraction.

"What's troubling you, my barrister friend?" Jack asked.

"Oh, it's these darn corporate tax contracts," Will griped, shoving the papers away from himself. "I can't find any way to work around them."

Jack reached over and took the documents and glanced at them. After a few seconds he said, "This balductum isn't that complicated, William. It a simple fact that a consolidated corporation must file one entry rather than separate entries. I'm referencing the 2001 case of United Dominion Industries vs. the United States. To quote _in exacta_: 'The product liability loss of an affiliated group of corporations electing to file a consolidated federal income tax return must be figured on a consolidated, single-entity basis, not by aggregating PLLs separately determined company by company.'"

Will hurried over to a bookshelf, scanned the rows of books there and finding the one he wanted, opened it and read briefly. His jaw dropped in astonishment. He looked dazedly at Jack who just grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

CH. 4

The next evening, Grace and Will were again comparing notes on Jack. Will told Grace about how Jack had cited an obscure legal reference to help him with a tough case.

"I know, Will. He came to my office this morning to see Karen while I was complaining on what a problem I was having with a design for a studio apartment. He gave the contract a quick read, and in 45 seconds sketched a design!" Grace exclaimed.

"Was it any good?" Will asked.

"Good? It was so fabulous, I'm furious. He could get his own design business and put me out of mine!" Grace griped.

"Something's gotta be done, Grace. You're used to knocking and nobody's home. Now when you knock, Albert Einstein answers. He'd make William F. Buckley seem like Ernest P. Worrell. The other day he was watching a documentary on astronomy…_astronomy_, Grace! They mentioned the 'Big Bang' and he didn't even have one of his usual lascivious comments. It's not natural. It would be like if Jack…well…if Jack were….um…_straight_. And he seems totally unaware of the change. It's like he's tapped into some ethereal source of information, but what can we do?"

"We could try to shock him back to his original state?"

"Too dangerous. It could end up killing him."

"Well I mean like shock therapy…under controlled conditions."

"It's an idea. I'll call Dr. McManus tomorrow and see what he would recommend," Will offered.

Just then Jack entered. Seeing Will and Grace huddling together inquired the focus of their conversation. Will walked over to Jack and asked him point blank if he realized what has happened or how it had changed him, but Jack just stared at Will like the attorney had just become insane. Will then said that he and Grace had noticed how much more intelligent he had become since the mishap.

Jack just shrugged and replied, "_Haud ignota loquor_."

"What does that mean," Grace asked Will figuring as a lawyer he would know Latin.

"I say what I know," Will sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

CH. 5

It had been about a month since Jack had his mishap with Will's juicer. They had expected him to snap out of his altered state before this and feared the condition might now be permanent. Jack noticed that his behavior now made his friends uncomfortable, so he toned it down a bit for their sakes, although it took a lot of effort. To him it was like an average person attempting to communicate with pre-schoolers.

Dr. McManus had advised against giving Jack shock treatments for his condition fearing it might worsen it one way or the other. Everyone was becoming concerned.

Karen was with him again in his apartment where she had been spending most of her free time now during her divorce.

"Jackie?" Karen broke the silence one evening as she sat grooming her fingernails as he read the newspaper. He was now reading the political and financial sections and not the entertainment and comics like he used to do.

"M'yeah?" Jack responded distractedly.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Karen asked.

"What do you want to do?" Jack answered.

"Let's stay in and watch television," she suggested.

"I can't understand how you can tolerate all that stupidity on it," he said looking up. "But if that's your pleasure, the pleasure's mine also," he said smiling as Karen rose and held out her hand to her long-time friend.

"May I say, Mrs. Walker, soon to be Miss Delaney, that your eternally youthful skin is as soft as the chamois your chauffeur uses to clean the limo," Jack complimented.

"And may I say, Mr. McFarland, your ass is as pliable and bouncy as a twelve year old choirboy's?"

Jack grinned to himself. Their evening verbal interplay was getting to be customary. The two friends walked over to the settee and sat down. Jack picked up the remote device and clicked it to activate the TV.

They had been watching about two hours. Karen had curled up against Jack's chest. Jack was nodding off himself. Karen suddenly said, "Jackie, I'm a little thirsty. Would you be a darling and make me a cocktail?"

Karen moved over so Jack could get up. He walked to the kitchen. He reached out to the light switch to click on the ceiling light, but it remained dark.

Thinking he could replace the bulb himself, he strode quickly to a nearby cupboard to get a replacement, Jack returned with a new one. He climbed up on the counter and was just able to reach the fixture. Karen, by now, was wondering what was taking Jack so long to get her drink. She turned around to see Jack standing on the counter.

"What's going on, poodle? What are you doing?"

"The light isn't working. I hope it's just a bad bulb and not a short in the circuit. I'm going to pop in a new bulb and see if that's the problem."

"No, Jackie, don't. It could be dangerous. There are maintenance people to do that sort of thing," Karen pleaded.

"It'll only take a sec, Kare," Jack replied.

Karen, sighing, turned her attention back to the TV.

Jack removed the light cover and unscrewed the old bulb, tossing it into a nearby trashcan. He started to screw in the new bulb. Karen saw a flash of light against the wall and a loud crackling sound followed by a loud thud. Startled, she spun around. Jack was nowhere in sight.

"Jackie?" Karen apprehensively inquired. There was no answer. She quickly arose from the sofa and hurried over to the bar. "JACKIE!" she exclaimed seeing her friend sprawled on the floor behind the bar. She knelt beside him and shook his shoulder. There was still no response. She didn't hesitate to run across the hall and summon help from Apartment 9C.

"He was changing the light over the bar. I saw a flash and heard a crackle and the next thing he was on the floor," Karen explained to Will and Grace who had hurried over to Jack's at Karen's summons. Again, Will performed a perfunctory examination. Jack was alive, but in an unknown condition.

"Shhh…I think he's coming around," Will said sternly.

Jacked moaned and his eyes fluttered open. He noticed Karen, Grace and Will hovering above him. "Ohhh…what happened," he sighed as he tried to sit up.

Will thought it best if Jack were taken to the hospital and get checked out, just to be on the safe side. Fortunately they were able to get Dr. McManus again who was familiar with the case and another tense wait ensued in the waiting room.


	6. Chapter 6

CH. 6

After about an hour, Dr. McManus appeared in the waiting room. Will, Karen and Grace jumped up and hurried over, all asking questions together. The physician held up his and smiled as if to say, "Please, one at a time!"

Will, being the most insistent, inquired about Jack's condition.

"Oh, he doing fine." McManus replied. "In fact, he's being discharged. He can go home with you."

The three friends jumped up and down hugging each other in excitement of the good news, then they all hurried to where Jack was being kept for observation. On hearing the movement, Jack looked up and smiled one of his toothy grins at seeing his friends. He assured them after many inquiries that he indeed was feeling fine and wondered what all the excitement and concern was about. He seemed to have no recollection of what had happened in the last several weeks. Will was still doubtful so decided to test Jack.

"Jack, I saw an interesting science documentary the other night. They were explaining about the galactic bulge…" Grace looked sharply at Will, confused at what a TV documentary had to do with Jack's condition, but Will winked back to signal her as a signal to wait and see what Jack's response was.

Jack rolled his eyes as the old familiar lascivious expression crossed his face. "I wish I had seen it. I could be on that program with a bulge of galactic proportions!"

Will sighed in relief. Grace put a hand over he mouth to stifle a laugh. Karen jumped and clapped he hands together squealing, "My poodle's back in the kennel."

A few days later, Will was lingering over his breakfast and reading the morning paper when Jack sauntered in, grabbed a slice of toast from the platter, plopped in the chair and kicked his feet up on the table. Will thought to reprimand Jack for such a _faux pas_, but held his tongue. He was just glad to have Jack back to normal…or was he? Then Will noticed something odd.

"Jack, do you realize that you're wearing two different colored socks?" Will asked as he stared at the one white and one navy blue sock protruding out of Jack's Converse shoes.

Jack nonchalantly glanced at his ankles. "Uh huh," he mumbled nonchalantly between bites of toast. "But the strangest thing, Will. I have another pair EXACTLY like it in my sock drawer. Isn't that a hoot?"

Will smiled and resumed his reading. Everything was going to be all right.

.


End file.
